In general, in order to access network-based services (e.g., quality of service control, user profile management, and the like) in an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) network, the signaling required to establish a bearer path must traverse associated call session control functions (CSCFs). As such, since CSCFs operate as session initiation protocol (SIP) proxies, the signaling required to establish the bearer path must be performed using SIP. For example, in order to access streaming video content within IMS at a guaranteed QOS, a SIP user agent (SIP-UA) (e.g., a mobile phone) establishes a connection with a video server using SIP. The video server then streams the video content to the mobile phone using real-time protocol (RTP).
Unfortunately, this existing mechanism for accessing streaming video content and obtaining like network-based services requires SIP-UA integration into the service endpoints (e.g., mobile phones, video servers, and the like), cannot provide VCR capabilities, and prevents the use of third-party client software and third-party server software. Furthermore, wireless terminals supporting real-time streaming protocol (RTSP) applications are incapable of utilizing network-based services controlled by other protocols (e.g., SIP) since the RTSP signaling path does not traverse network components (e.g., CSCFs) required for accessing network-based services controlled by such other protocols.